IS THE OLD MAN DEAD?

Colossians 3:1–17 KJV 1900

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Intro:

Joseph Stalin and his collapse before parliament. Some, believing Stalin to be dead, they began to shout and to rejoice, congratulating one another over the apparent death of the evil dictator. Stalin, however, was far from dead and many of those who rejoiced paid with their lives. As I considered that, I began to realize that the Christian life is similar.

When we come into this world, we are born into a sinful fleshly body. A body controlled by the world, the devil and it’s own lusts,

Eph. 2:1–3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others ;

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then, one day, you come to Jesus for salvation! Do you remember the glory of that moment? The joy of that incredible feeling? It felt as though all the old, sinful ways were gone forever. It felt like the world was brand new, especially for you! It felt so good, and oh, how your heart rejoiced. It wasn’t long, however, until it began to dawn on you that the old nature was still active.

Perhaps you found yourself being drawn back to some of your old ways. You found that now, there was a spiritual struggle going on inside you, Gal. 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. It was at that moment that you realized that life was going to be a struggle.

It is this struggle which Paul is writing about here. In these verses, he gives us some ammunition to fight this battle. He lays out some principles that, if followed, will help us live the right kind of life before God and the world. Paul is telling us how to gain the victory over the old man.

I. v. 1–4 THE CHANGE OF THE NEW LIFE

A. v. 1–2 New Heavenly Desires—Affections—That which the mind is set on; or that which we side with. When we get saved, we are changed and ought to set our hearts on the things which glorify God—1 Cor. 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. We are to be motivated by the heavenly, and not the earthly. What motivates your life?

B. v. 3a A New Heavenly Deliverance—When we came to Jesus for salvation, we died! More than that, when He died on the cross, we died in Him—Rom. 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; The old man of sin, our old nature died at Calvary! Therefore, we have been liberated from sin and are no longer slaves to sin—Rom. 6:7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

However, we still have to live with it every day. We are to battle it and not give in to it. But, it is dead even while it lives! Praise God, the day is coming when the old man will both be reckoned dead and literally dead—1 Cor. 15:51–54!

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

C. v. 3b–4 A New Heavenly Destiny—Right now, we are in Jesus—Eph. 2:6. We are eternally saved and we possess eternal life! One day, soon, we will be with Him in glory. At that day, we will be like Him—1 John 3:1–2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Thank God, the child of God is as sure for Heaven as if he were already there—Rom. 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

D. These truths, alone, ought to be enough to make the child of God live for Christ—1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

II. v. 5–11 THE CHALLENGES OF THE NEW LIFE

A. v. 5a A Challenge To Be Negative—( Mortify—To put to death—Mortician, mortuary.) This sounds negative, but often a negative response to something is the only valid one. Surgery to remove a ruptured appendix, or extracting a broken tooth, weeding a garden. God is saying that a part of ourselves needs to be cut out to death and that we have been elected to do the killing!

B. v. 5b–9 A Challenge To Our Nature—Paul names the activities that need to be put to death. He’s naming sin—People don’t like it, but it is necessary! Paul groups our sins into 2 groups.

1. v. 5 The Sensual Sins—Appealing to the senses. The sins of pleasure!

a. Fornication—Sexual impurity—of any kind!

b. Uncleanness—A life of impurity, fueled by improper motives.

c. Inordinate Affection—Depraved passions. A mind that dwells on sin. Usually easily satisfied as the mind always concocts ways to satisfy the flesh!

d. Evil Concupiscence—A lust for the sinful. ( The Mental Aspect of c. and d.

e. Covetousness—The sin of always wanting more, Heb. 13:6. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. it is kin to idolatry!

2. v. 8–9 The Social Sins—Related to our dealing with others. We often try to rationalize and justify ourselves in these sins, but they are still wicked and defiling.

a. Anger—Sudden outbursts. Needs to be given to Jesus.

b. Wrath—Refers to God’s judgment on sin. This is the sin of playing God and passing judgment on others. That’s not our place. We are called to bear fruit, not inspect it!

c. Malice—is to impact our negative will toward another, includes a desire to injure and get revenge—Rom. 12:9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

d. Blasphemy—Speech which slanders another—either God or man. Most common form is gossip. When you attack God’s greatest work, man, you are in essence attacking God Himself.

e. Filthy Communications— Foul speech, course humor, obscene gestures.

f. Lying— Anything less than the absolute truth. When we lie, we have joined hands with the devil—John 8:44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

3. v. 6 These very things cause the lost to be under God’s wrath, John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. The only difference between them and us is the grace of God manifested through the blood of Jesus. If you are saved and are living in sin, you will not get away with it! You will either repent or you will face chastisement:

Heb. 12:5–11. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

C. 9b–11 A Challenge To Be New—The Christian is called to put off, literally, cast away from oneself, the characteristics of oneself. We are to do this by whatever means necessary— Joseph—Gen. 39; Matt. 5:29–30. We must flee evil in our lives.

III. v. 12–17 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW LIFE

While the above activities and mindsets are characteristic of the world, the following are evidence of salvation. Sadly, in many Christian lives, these things are the exception and not the rule!

A. v. 12–15 Characterized By New Deeds—( Put off—“once for all”; Put on—“Once for all” Here are the new deeds of the new life.

1. v. 12b The Fruit Of The Spirit—The new life, energized and led by God will always manifest the proof of the Spirit’s presence—

Gal. 5:19–25. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envying s, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

2. v. 13 The Forgiveness Of The Saints—When Christ reigns in the heart, there will be no room for grudges or grievances, but only for forgiveness—Matt. 18:21–22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Luke 17:3–5. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

3. v. 14 The Fragrance Of The Savior—When we are walking in the newness of life, we will have the fragrance of Christ in our lives, and that fragrance is love—John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The life controlled by the Lord is a life of love.

4. v. 15 The Fullness Of The Spiritual Life—The fullness of the Spirit demonstrates Himself in peace and assurance before God, ( Salvation, and the assurance of it, is forever settled—2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

2 Pet. 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; and between brethren, (Euodias and Syntyche—Phil. 4:2.) Also manifested in a thankful Spirit before the Lord—1 Thes. 5:18. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

B. v. 16 Characterized By A New Direction—It is no more the flesh, the world and the devil for the believer. Now, it is the will and Word of God.

1. A New Dependence Upon The Word “Dwell richly” = To inhabit in abundance and to be at home in. Christians dare not be strangers to the Bible. The Word cannot get into you until you first get into it! When it gets in you, it will control you.

2. A New Declaration Of The Word— “Admonish”—To instruct and warn of evil. The saints of God are to have a heart for their wayward brother— Gal. 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.—Restore—To set a broken bone!

3. A New Demonstration Before The World— A heart of praise will fill the believer when the new man is in control.

C. v. 17 Characterized By New Decisions—No longer are we interested in pleasing the flesh, but every decision is based on whether or not it brings glory to the Lord. Such is the life controlled by the new man.

Conc: Is the old man dead in your life? If not, it will show up on you! ( Ancient Roman custom of forcing a murderer to wear the corpse of his victim.) Death ate into him and drained him of life. So it is with us. Who controls your life? The flesh? The world? The devil? Or, is it the Spirit of God? If the wrong one is in control, your life will be out of control and less than pleasing to the Lord. But, praise His Name! He allows for new beginnings!